Ghaiyyath and Communique lead British charge in Grosser Preis von Baden

147th Longines Grosser Preis von Baden (Group 1) | 3yo+ | 1m4f

Germany's premier all-aged race has been something of a graveyard for three-year-olds in recent years, with future Arc and King George heroine Danedream the last representative of the Classic generation to win in 2011.

Charlie Appleby and Mark Johnston will be hoping to extend the run of the older horses in fielding two talented four-year-olds, Ghaiyyath and Communique.

Ghaiyyath, who represents the Godolphin trainer, made a big impression when blowing away his rivals at Longchamp in April but he failed to back up that performance when third behind Waldgeist on his first try at Group 1 level in the Prix Ganay.

Appleby said: "He was a little disappointing in the Prix Ganay but we wondered about a couple of things afterwards – whether there was a slight bounce factor after wintering in Dubai and if his big effort in the Prix d’Harcourt may have left him a little flat."

Appleby has made no secret of his desire to try the son of Dubawi over a mile and a half and this will tell the trainer as to whether he is right to consider him a candidate for the Arc in October.

"Ghaiyyath has had a good break since the spring," said Appleby. "We are looking forward to seeing him race over a mile and a half as we are confident that it will be his best trip."

Communique (left) won in good style at Newmarket earlier this seasonCredit: Edward Whitaker

Communique also seeks a Group 1 breakthrough, having finished fourth in the Coronation Cup, then finding only French King too strong in the Grosser Preis von Berlin three weeks ago.

Between those efforts he landed a second success of the season when a comfortable winner of the Group 2 Princess of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket.

There are sound reasons for expecting the three-year-olds to have a say in the 2019 finish, with Laccario having looked an above-average winner of the Deutsches Derby after picking up well for Eduardo Pedrosa.

"Laccario has come on quite on quite a bit from the [Deutsches] Derby and it will be interesting to see how he runs against good older horses," said trainer Andreas Wohler, whose two previous Grosser Preis winners, Lomitas and Novellist, were both out of the top drawer.

"He travelled well last time and showed a good turn of foot, which is always nice to see."

Wohler saddles a second fascinating contender in fellow three-year-old Ashrun, who made up for lost time when winning the Group 3 Prix de Reux at Deauville and who has the assistance of Olivier Peslier for this rise in class.

"I was pleased with Ashrun's win on his first start against older horses, especially as he needed the run after a long break, so he should run a fine race as well," said Wohler.

"He wasn’t entered in the Deutsches Derby and needed to be supplemented and then couldn't run because he had a cold. That was the reason for his longer break."

Neither Laccario nor Ashrun are entered in the Arc and, in the event of an impressive success here, connections would face a €120,000 decision over whether or not to supplement for Longchamp.

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